Mexican Vote To Test Party's 56-year Reign

HERMOSILLO, MEXICO — Mexico's democracy, which for 56 years has largely served to ratify the ruling party and its policies, will be tested today in nationwide elections.

At immediate stake are the governorships of seven states, 300 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, and hundreds of state legislative and municipal ofices.

But more broadly in question is the ability of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and the administration of President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado to claim near universal support for their management of the Mexican economy and society.

Although few offices are expected to go to opposition parties, even a small gain would be viewed as significant here. The ruling party now holds every governorship, and has done so since its founding in 1929. It also holds 299 of the 300 elected seats in the Chamber of Deputies and all but a handful of municipal and state offices.

The strongest challenge to the ruling party, which is known by its Spanish acronym PRI, has come from the more conservative National Action Party. The party has provided the stiffest challenge for high political office since the Mexican revolution.

Opposition party leaders say they have a chance to gain the governors' offices of two states, a claim that leaders of the ruling party dismiss. Both sides say the National Action Party is likely to pick up several congressional seats, particularly in the border state of Chihuahua and in the capital.

The source of the party's gain in strength, according to members of both the ruling party and the opposition, has been its ability to present itself as a focus for public discontent over a declining economy and continuing government corruption.